Afghanistan: Mother and daughter stoned to death for adultery

Ghazni
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Taliban gunmen stoned and then shot to death an Afghan mother and daughter they accused of "moral deviation and adultery." The killing happened in the Khawaja Hakim area of Ghazni city on Thursday.

Afghan authorities have arrested two men in connection with the incident.

The BBC reports that Afghan officials say Taliban gunmen broke into the house in which the woman and her daughter lived and took them out to the yard where they stoned and shot them to death. Afghan authorities, however, blamed neighbours for not informing the authorities as soon as the incident happened. People in the neighbourhood who heard shots said they were too afraid to go out.

A neighbour of the women identified as Rahimullah, said:

"When the women in the neighborhood washed the bodies of the killed women, they saw signs of stoning, and the doctors at the local hospital also confirmed to us."

BBC reports that the attack was carried out only 300 meters from the governor's office in Ghazni city. A BBC correspondent in Kabul Bilal Sarwary, confirmed that the incident happened in a part of the city close to the governor's office, the police chief's office and the office of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. According to the BBC, there are 18 districts in Ghazni, out of which only seven are under government control.

Ghazni provincial police chief Zilawar Zahid, however, denied the story that the women were stoned to death. He told reporters that the gunmen entered the house and killed the women inside.

Daily Mail says local religious clerics are issuing fatwas and asking people to report cases of "adultery." BBC reports that the Taliban impose their strict version of Sharia law over the areas under their control. They ban girls from attending school, they have banned joint weddings, banned mobile phones, video cameras and music. Only the Taliban radio is allowed to operate. Drivers are regularly beaten in the streets. Afghan government officials are arrested and imprisoned, with some having been executed by beheading.

Daily Mail reports a gruesome incident of stoning to death caught on video which happened in the Dashte Archi district of Kunduz early in the year. The video showed Taliban fighters stoning a couple to death in northern Afghanistan on the allegation that the couple committed adultery.

The Taliban have no apologies for perpetuating, in the Twenty First century, medieval notions of law and justice. A Taliban spokesman, according to Daily Mail, defended the custom of stoning "adulterers" to death:

"Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law.There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country."